Garnacho ‘letting his family down’ with Cristiano Ronaldo obsession

Robin Bairner

26 Mar 2025 11:35 GMT
4 min read

Alejandro Garnacho, Cristiano Ronaldo, Man Utd — © IMAGO

Alejandro Garnacho continues to be a divisive presence at Manchester United, with a club legend speaking out against the performances of the Argentina international, who stands accused of being too busy thinking about becoming the next Cristiano Ronaldo.

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Garnacho has struggled to win the favour of new head coach Ruben Amorim since the Portuguese took over in November.

Current ETV

Alejandro Garnacho

F (L), M (RL)

Man Utd

Alejandro Garnacho

F (L), M (RL)

Man Utd

ETV Range

€59.5M - €72.7M

He was infamously dropped, along with Marcus Rashford, for the derby victory over Manchester City, and while he has managed to claw his way back into the first-team picture, he has often been a replacement.

Even if he has made a profound impact at times off the bench, notably turning his side’s fortunes away at Everton, there are doubts over his long-term future at Old Trafford. Rumours continue to link Chelsea with a move.

He is not playing like an adult and he is certainly not acting like an adult

- Paul Parker on Alejandro Garnacho

Man Utd’s struggle to comply with the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) means that Garnacho finds himself as one of the club’s most sellable assets, and now he has been told that unless he sorts out his attitude, he is welcome to leave.

“He is not playing like an adult and he is certainly not acting like an adult, and he has to have a good look in the mirror, to tell himself that he needs to stop thinking about being the next [Cristiano] Ronaldo. He will never be that, so he has to accept the fact that he needs to work hard to get a decent career,” Paul Parker, who won two Premier League titles in the 1990s, said.

“I liked him when he came through and he had that Argentinian fire in his belly, which he has lost completely. He has let himself and his family down. He has let his club down, because he is not taking advantage of the talent he was supposed to have.”

Garnacho on Cristiano Ronaldo

Garnacho has made no secret of his admiration of Man Utd legend Ronaldo in the past via his interactions with the Al-Nassr attacker on social media, while he has also mirrored CR7’s famous ‘Siu’ celebration – something Rasmus Hojlund did during the international break in a far more controversial move.

Bruno Fernandes has also joked about Garnacho’s love of the Portugal icon in the past.

After Garnacho scored an overhead kick against Everton in November 2023, the Man Utd captain joked that the young winger had been “watching too many Cristiano Ronaldo clips”.